Exclusive: Dread Central at The Collector Premiere

Dread Central attended the premiere of Marcus Dunstan’s directorial debut The Collector (review here) at Hollywood & Highland last night, as well as the after-party held in the swanky Tropicana Bar at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, and brought back a slew of pics. We also chatted with Dunstan and his The Collector co-writer and longtime collaborator Patrick Melton regarding the film along with the many other genre projects they’re attached to so read on.

On hand for the raucous, packed and enthusiastically received screening was John Gulager, his wife Diane Goldner and brother Tom (the latter two appear in the flick), as was Neo Art & Logic’s Mike Leahy, Feast actress Jenny Wade, filmmakers Sean (Silent Night, Zombie Night) Cain, Frank (The Mist) Darabont and The Collector star Josh Stewart, among others.

In good spirits following his uproarious introduction and screening (the director prefaced the film with a clever poem regarding the flick’s trip from script to screen), Dunstan (who co-wrote with Melton the Feast franchise and Saw IV thru VI) effused of The Collector, “This is the film we have to make no excuses for. Everything we intended is up on the screen. I spent every damn penny to get the scenes just the way the script intended, and we pushed ourselves to the very limit to guarantee the experience in the theater that we intended to deliver from the page.”

Melton was equally enthusiastic. “I love it. Looks and sounds wonderful – seeing the first film print the other day made me misty-eyed because we took such a long, strange road to get here. Our intent was to make something intense and scary, and I think we achieved our goal in spades. I am biased, though.”

Will there be a sequel? Dunstan feels that many unexplored avenues remain. “Should we have an opportunity to return to The Collector terrain, there are ideas aplenty to unleash our darkest ideas,” he said. Watch our exclusive red carpet video interview with the duo, along with the film’s on-screen siblings Madeline Zima (Jill) and Karley Scott Collins (Hannah), here.

As for the duo’s involvement with the Saw films, Dunstan told us of his co-scripted sixth in the series (which releases October 23 via Lionsgate), “I love it! (Director) Kevin Greutert hit this entry out of the park. He pointed to the stands and swung for the stars. This installment brings with it a sense of closure on storylines long in development. It feels complete. It feels timely. It has emotion, violence and artistry in a mad ballet. Patrick and I are thrilled to be a part of this ride.”

“We’re currently scripting Saw VII,” added Melton. “As for loose ends in Saw VI, a lot is tied up at the end. People wonder how we can have resolution but still have a sequel, but I beg them to see Saw VI first before casting judgement. There is resolution in the end of Saw VI,” says the scribe of the series’ historically complicated narrative. “We understand John’s quest and we understand the involvement of Hoffman and Amanda.”

Dread questioned the two regarding their involvement with the project The Good Doctor, a script which came across our desk earlier this week penned by Tom Gulager and based on an original idea by Dunstan and Melton, which is slated to be directed by Feast franchise helmer John Gulager.

“The Good Doctor is something we hope to be John Gulager’s Hitchcock film,” said Dunstan. “It is a lurid suspense-thriller conceived with giallo touches in an adult-hard-R world. John has so much to contribute to cinema, and the Feast films are merely a taste. Gulager is an artist through and through. His lifetime body of work is based in drama and thriller territory, so the fact his first film was a horror-comedy was a happy accident. I think the gentleman knows how to make anything sing. However, The Good Doctor was conceived as a project to be born from his lifetime passion. I can’t wait to see what comes of it!”

Melton added of the project’s status, “It’s a high suspense thriller/horror that can be made in limited locations at a cost, and the (Gulager) brothers are honing the script so we’ll know more soon.”

As for other genre projects, Melton let it slip that the duo is (in addition to the feature film The Killing Street (coverage here)) “doing a TV show with Clive Barker, but I can’t really say anything about that yet. Other than that there’s this comic book named Deal With The Devil by Mike Miller that we just got involved (with).”

Set up at Lionsgate, the adaptation of the Alias Enterprise comic is going to be tackled by producer Lisa Brause of Golden House Entertainment.

“It’s in the same school as The Collector,” said Melton, “but its scale is larger. The idea is for us to write (the screenplay) and for Marcus to direct.”

Ryan Schifrin’s Abominable Gets a Sasquatch-Sized Blu-Ray

A recent scientific study concluded that since the year 2000 there have 4,374,139 killer Bigfoot movies. 2006’s Abominable is one of the better Sasquatch-ploitation flicks of the era. Now this creature feature is getting a collector’s edition blu-ray complete with a brand new cut of the gruesome flick.

It has been sighted 42,000 times in 68 countries, a vicious creature of myth and legend called Sasquatch, Yeti, and perhaps most infamously, Bigfoot. It’s been hunted it for years. But what happens when it decides to hunt us?

After recovering from a horrific accident, paraplegic Preston Rogers (Matt McCoy) moves back into the remote cabin where he and his now-deceased wife once lived. When his new neighbor Karen, is attacked by a gigantic creature, Rogers contacts the local authorities. But after the police and those around him dismiss Rogers as a delusional widower, he sets out to stop the abominable creature himself.

This won’t be your typical collector’s edition as not only will be getting a new high definition transfer of the film originally shot on 35mm, this will also include an all-new cut of the film with improved CGI-effects overseen by filmmaker Schifrin and editor Chris Conlee with enhanced color timing and correction.

As if two cuts of the film weren’t enough, MVD’s Abominable release will also boast a ton of extras both new and ported over from the original DVD release:
-Brand New 2k Remaster of the Film from the Original Camera Negative
-Brand New Introduction from Director Ryan Schifrin (HD)
-‘Basil & Mobius: No Rest For The Wicked’ (16:28, HD) – New short film written and directed by Ryan Schifrin featuring a score by legendary composer Lalo Schifrin and starring Zachari Levi, Ray Park, Malcolm McDowell and Kane Hodder
-Audio Commentary with writer/director Ryan Schifrin, Actors Matt McCoy and Jeffrey Combs
-‘Back to Genre: Making ABOMINABLE” featurette (SD)
-Deleted and Extended Scenes (SD)
-Outtakes and Bloopers (SD)
-“Shadows” Director Ryan Schifrin’s USC Student Film (SD)
-The original 2005 version of “Abominable” (Blu-ray only, 94 mins, SD)
-Original Theatrical Trailer
-Poster & Still Gallery Storyboard Gallery
-Collectible Poster
-Audio: 5.1 Surround Audio (Uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)

The MVD Rewind Collection release of Abomimable stomps its way to blu-ray on June 12th.

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Yesterday I was stumbling around on Instagram and I came across this killer account called @horrorretrocaps. They make horror movie-themed hats and I felt the need to share their work with you guys today.

It’s not so much the hats (which are cool), or the quality of the product (which looks sound as a pound) but it is the obvious love of horror by the guys behind the scenes that gets me all warm and fuzzy.

I mean sure there are products like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But they also have hats celebrating such classics as The Outing, The Lamp (hell, yeah!), The Gate, Zombie Lake, and The Video Dead.

Nice!

On top of that, the product that sealed the deal for me was their Rosemary’s Killer hat. As some of you might know, Rosemary’s Killer is the alternate title of Joseph Zito’s underrated slasher The Prowler. That alone just earned them horror-cred for days.

You can check out some of their choice caps below and then head on over to their account to purchase some product: @horrorretrocaps.

All caps are $15 plus $4 shipping in the U.S., and he also takes requests for $20.

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Jurassic Park T-Rex Stomps Through Ready Player One Trailer #3

It was only earlier this week that we brought you guys the new “pure 80’s nostalgia” poster (to the right) for Steven Spielberg’s new action-adventure film Ready Player One.

And if all the promotional materials we have seen thus far haven’t done anything to raise your interest in the film (including trailers which featured Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Christine, and King Kong) then today’s new might not help matters much.

But all the same today we have a new trailer which features the mighty T-Rex from Spielberg’s own Jurassic Park and a bunch of new character posters for good measure.

I’m just going to come right out and say that as impressed as I am with the trailers for this film, I can’t help but feel someone watched the “Imaginationland“ episode of “South Park” and thought, “Mother of God… call Steven Speilberg!”

You can check out the character posters and the new trailer below and then let us know what you think of the film thus far.

Ready Player One is directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline, based on the novel by Cline. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Mark Rylance, Olivia Cooke, Simon Pegg, and Ben Mendelsohn.

The film hits theaters March 29, 2018.

Synopsis:

When the creator of an MMO called the Oasis dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all Oasis users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune. Wade Watts finds the first clue and starts a race for the Egg.